For the pyro guy inside you

ChainSmoker

ChainSmoker

Active member
For my latest creation, the 12 shot fire box. The ol' nail board shuffle just wasn't cutting it for me, so I came up with this beast. Designed with the ultimate in safety (hence the key swtich and flip up safety toggles), this is perfect for squibs, mortars, cannons, and just about anything else you want to blow up. Runs on a 12volt internal rechargable lead acid battery if your out in the field, or plug it into wall for AC power if your filming indoors and want to save battery juice. Speaker terminals are used for quick and easy connections and momentary push button switches for detonation.

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Rich
 
I like your style and I'd really like to blow something up with you sometime. Lockout toggles... momentary firing buttons... lucky!

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Thanks everyone. Overland you got it man! If you ever make it out to the desert let me know, I have a Buick just waiting to be put out of its misery :)
 
Holy, paint that wood and you have a mean looking machine,
I imagine that took a lot of testing to get right, as for that buick you might need 12 charges those things are tanks, are you pre-weakening it?
How do you film your explosions on digital do you have a high speed camera set up?
Good job
 
Thanks Faulty. The Buick has been put on hold since we are no longer blowing it up for our herofest entry :crybaby:. As far as filming explosions go, my best results in testing mode have yielded shooting at 60i and slowing it down in post. Could be better, but it works. Once I figure out what the hell I am doing, I will gladly share my recipe. If only everything was as easy as dust hits and blood squibs.

Rich
 
Ho-leeee sh*t.... my little bro had a similar device when we were teenagers (70's... KISS was all the rage, and he did pyro for all the teen bands).

He blew out all the windows in a catholic high school cafeteria one night... 4 bottles of high-speed fash powder going off at once? It just knocks you off your feet.
 
Thank god NO... they would've used it as evidence!!!

There was a lawsuit filed against the archdiosese (or whatever?!?). They were letting all of us teen-bands (around 1976-79) bring in huge fog machines and mountains of flash powder... crazy!

My little bro was a major pyro. And high-speed flash powder is just crazy-powerful stuff. He used to seal a film vial of it in a coffee can full of bondo. When it hardened, it would blow a 3' crater in the yard. Neighbors freakin' HATED us. Once he blew up a pile of ketchup packets and a rubber hand, next to the neighbor's brand-new, bright-white concrete driveway. (The fan of "blood" and torn-up hand would've made Romero proud). The mom next door had to be treated for shock. Sheesh!

His biggest blast was a garbage bag filled with oxygen and acetylene (which he swiped from the school's metal shop). He still has the newspaper clipping... they stopped a football game 2 MILES away, thinking a house had blown up.

Ahh, good times... (and little bro spent several years as a tech director for Cirque De Soleil, so... happy ending at least!)
 
In the eighties we made lots of cheesy super-8 "war" movies with some cool pyro.

The charge was usually about a cup of black powder wrapped in a couple inches of black electrical tape (or duct tape) with a rocket igniter inside.

With the charge we could make two very awesome explosive effects.

The first was to dig a shallow hole for the charge, then putting a bag or two of flour and/or carbon powder (note: charcoal + blender = unhappy mother) on top. A great morter or mine-field effect.

The other was to bury a garbage can, put the charge (or two) on the bottom, then insert a garbage bag filled with gasoline. Awesome fireballs.

You can stand surprisingly close to the first effect, but I wouldn't recommend going anywhere near the second!

The charge makes a soft **whump** rather than an explosion, isn't very powerful and doesn't do much damage -- mostly it just releases a lot of gas which propels the flour or gasoline into the air. If it went off in your hand it would just burn ferociously rather than explode. The secret is having it contained in a hole (or mortar, in FX-speak) so the gas has only one way to escape.

The 50's-era FX book we took these from said you could run right past the flour explosion, but none of us were brave enough to try.

I can't imagine doing this today -- sounds dangerous! But when you're 14 nothing is dangerous.

We never had a mishap -- well none that they'll ever find the bodies for...
 
When my brother and I get together and reminisce, my fiancee always ends up saying "what IS it with little boys and explosions?!?!?"
 
I love this thread. This is something I've ALWAYS wanted to do.
Can any of you guys post some how-tos when you get a chance?
This is the DIY section after all.

Thanks for the inspiration!
 
I think that we'll soon see DHS agents here soon if more how-to's are posted!

I had a great book which described how to make explosive effects, squibs, etc., with a focus on safety (so actors wouldn't get hurt). As far as I remember (it was 20 years ago!) it was written in the 50's or 60's, and had lots of great BW photos. It was written for FX "experts" and assistants, and I think was British.

Anyone know what this book was? It was a great resource, and we all still have our fingers.
 
Thanks Twocik. Appreciate the kind words. I'm trying to post a clip, but quicktime and I are having a difference of opinion this morning. As soon as I figure out what I am doing wrong it will be up. On the lighter side of things, what kind of how to's are you looking for Cinemark? Blood squibs, black powder hits? Let me know and I will post what I can.
 
One thing I've always been trying to learn how to do are good blood squibs. I'd also like to do some small scale explosions and smoke effects, so sometimes not necessarily fireball explosions but rather just good ol' plumes of smoke and flying earth.

Any knowledge you could impart would be fantastic. Even a good book to reference.

Thanks!
 
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